Aves
by Katadenza
Summary: Or, In Which a Robin Learns About Humanity. "This is my story of the beginning, but I am afraid I cannot tell you all I know." A fanfiction of the Evillious Chronicles created by Mothy/Akuno-P.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** Evillious Chronicles, how do I love/hate thee, let me count the ways...  
To Beiowulf: Yes, this is one of the ideas I was talking about. I hope I can write this well...*types nervously*

WARNING: Contains spoilers for the Original Sin Arc and a vital spoiler(?) for the Story of Evil Arc. As I haven't read the _Wiegenlied of Green _novel yet, expect a few details to be wrong. Corrections and criticism are very welcome.

Though I will choose to reveal it in the end, I think the main character should be obvious enough to EC fans. Happy reading!

* * *

**_This is _my_ story of the beginning, but I am afraid I cannot tell you all I know._**

* * *

**_Is that so? Such a shame. I guess I'll have to do it for you._**

**_Now, let the story begin._**

* * *

When you were a young spirit, you prided yourself on being the fastest creature in the forest. One end to the other, in five minutes or less, with just a few flaps of your wings.

While many would adore the Forest of Eldoh for its scenery, its plant life, and the tree-god within, you would only care for the skies above it. You thought yourself their master, even if you never dared say it out loud. You knew every single square-inch of airspace in the forest, every single branch to dodge, every clearing, every tree. The forest was yours to frolic in.

When spring would come, when the wind stopped being treacherous and bitter, your fellow spirits would take on their bird forms and race each other in celebration. In these, you reigned supreme. It always gave you a little rush, a little thrill to find yourself leaving the flock behind you as you sped through the fresh new green.

Of course, as spring faded into summer, the other spirits would tire of flying about all day and change into their preferred form, usually for the rest of the year. All except for you. You had become obsessed with that little thrill, determined never to stop. The others that had once responded to your challenges with enthusiasm would do so with slight, eventually severe exasperation.

Your closest friend, who usually took the form of a chipmunk, would chastise you about this year after year. Of course, you ignored her. You've held this robin form for as long as you could remember, and you certainly wouldn't want to change that. Why would you?

You loved flying. You loved whizzing across the forest at incredible speeds, changing direction with a single movement. You loved soaring up into the blue sky, just to see if you could go high enough to reach the Heavenly Yard itself. You loved pulling in your wings and swooping straight into the forest floor, defying gravity and death by pulling up again at the last possible moment.

You could never, ever, get enough. You certainly couldn't do that while taking the form of, say, a fish.

Of course, despite all your desires, you still had the body of an ordinary robin. You couldn't deny the fact that when pushed hard enough your tiny heart would stop and you would fall right out of the sky. So every so often, most of the time unwillingly, you would perch on a branch and rest your wings.

And it was on one of those branches where you, a young (500 or so years old, give or take a few) naive spirit in a robin's body, saw humans for the first time.


	2. Chapter 2

You were perched on a particularly low-lying branch, waiting rather impatiently. The sooner you took flight again, the better.

Suddenly, you felt the branch shiver beneath you. You heard the earth rumble, over and over. It was if someone was pummeling the forest with boulders. Something was coming, something huge.

The nearby branches rustled furiously and you saw... _something_... push them aside. Wasting no time, you flew as fast as you could to the uppermost branches.

It was the strangest creature you ever saw. It was gigantic, definitely too heavy to fly and chase after you, to your utter relief. Hulking and lumbering, it strode across the forest on two legs. _Two legs?_

Its head had no beak, and had strange protrusions on the sides that you presumed to be ears. The biggest thing that bothered you was that it had mostly had no feathers or fur whatsoever, except for the very top of its head. Even then, you couldn't tell what exactly they were, except that they were the color of night.

It scared you, and the first thing you did was fly to Eldoh and ask him to explain this abomination.

* * *

Eldoh was amused, to say the least.

"Child," He spoke, in such a way you thought he was treating you like a mere hatchling. "In all the years they've already been in existence, you haven't seen a human until now?"

"No..." Your mind was racing. Human? Was that was what the strange creature was called?

"Consider yourself late, child," Eldoh chuckled. "Maybe you should stop spending so much time in the sky and start paying more attention to the world."

Indignant, you puffed up your chest. "Well, I'm going to learn more about these human creatures. Maybe that will count as "paying more attention"!"

You flew off again, but you could still hear the tree-god laughing behind you.

Why would you even waste time on those humans? It was springtime! The wind wouldn't be this perfect for the rest of the year! The sky was waiting, and you wouldn't dare pass up the opportunity.

Would you?

Questions still relentlessly nagged at your mind like fleas. What _were_ these humans like, exactly? They intrigued you, those mysterious two-legged creatures. There was an unstoppable urge, like a hunger, to know _more_.

You spent the rest of the day and the whole night arguing with yourself about it. The matter seemed to pull you in and refused to let go.

In spite of yourself, you eventually gave in. A part of you still protested, but you quickly shut it up by reminding yourself of the fact that there would be other springs. You were a spirit, a Child of Eldoh. You were immortal. You had all the time in the world.

Now how, exactly, were you going to learn more?

You decided to go in depth, to pick one, exactly _one_ human to examine. You found out from your friend the most heavily traveled part of the forest and perched yourself there the very next day.

Now, which one would it be?

* * *

A particular human caught your eye.

It was an interesting specimen, very unlike the one you first saw.

First, it was smaller, almost a quarter of the size as the first human. A fledgling of the species? You worried what it was doing so far from its nest. At least, if it had a nest. Was it orphaned? Where were its parents?

The next thing you noticed were its head-feathers (you called them that now). Unlike the first, its head-feathers were so much longer, and were separated into two lengths. You almost convinced yourself that they were wings until you saw that they hung limply at its sides swinging back and forth. You still hadn't figured out what they were for. If they weren't used for flight, what in the Hellish Yard could their purpose be? You wondered, in the back of your mind, if they were used to attract mates.

But neither of those things drew you in, drove you to get closer, to investigate, to decide that yes, _this_ was the human to study.

It was the _color_ of its head-feathers; they were the color of the sky.

It was such a small, silly, inconsequential thing at the time. But to a bird like you so addicted to flight, it was the final selling point.

With a slight hesitation, you flew in, perching on a close branch. The fledgling-human was in a small clearing.

It was playing. At least, you thought it was playing. It was waving its arms around, much like branches being blown in a storm. For a small moment, you thought the fledgling was trying to learn how to fly. _Is that why you left your nest? _

Suddenly, a small distance away, you saw a small pebble levitate from the ground, surrounded by a green shimmering light. The fledgling gasped and you nearly let go of the branch in shock.

The human dropped its arms to its sides and gaped at the fallen pebble. It started speaking in a soft, high-pitched voice.

"I... I did it..."

A huge grin appeared on its face. It started running and stomping around the clearing in triumph. "I DID IT! Yes! I actually did it! It worked! The magic worked! Woohooo!"

You were nearly dying of fright. Had the human gone mad? Oh, how you longed to just take off and fly far away to the other end of the forest. But you just gripped the branch tighter. You were going to study this human no matter what.

It had romped around the clearing several times before coming to a stop right in front of your branch. It had noticed you. You held perfectly still.

It smiled and leaned in closer. "Hi there, little bird! My name is Eve Zuh-veh-zeh-da! What's yours?"

You, of course, gave no response.

It pouted a little, seemingly disappointed. "Aw... Don't worry," it said. It reached into its clothing and dug out a piece of bread. It crumbled it into pieces and offered it to you.

"I'm not going to hurt you!"

You drew back, suspicious of the offering. But then again, it said it wasn't going to hurt you...

You decided to help yourself to a few crumbs of bread.

The grin returned almost instantly. "YAY!" It cried, waving its arms in the air again. "Can we be friends? Let's be best friends!"

You, spooked, decided to take off and fly as far away as possible. That was enough human for one day.

* * *

**Author's Note:** I imagine that little Eve would have trouble with her own last name. Poor girl.

Apologies for updating so late! I know most of you guys are just starting summer vacation, but for me I'm just starting the school year. Joy. -_- Expect updates to be slow, especially as I'm trying to write at least several chapters in advance.

Another warning for this story: Possible OOC-ness if I don't pull this off right. Again, criticism is _very_ welcome.


	3. Chapter 3

It seemed as if everyone was mocking you lately.

Quite literally, as your friend was then in bird form, a mockingbird to be precise.

"I know it happens to everyone, but _you_? Of _all _spirits?" You knew your friend was trying not to laugh. It didn't help.

The annual racing had just begun with the arrival of spring. You had been competing with a swallow that very morning. Swallows were naturally swift, and to outfly one was always a challenge. You should have been paying attention. You had a reputation to hold up, after all.

But the questions, those ridiculous, distracting, irritating questions, refused to go away. For the second night in a row, they settled themselves in the depths of your mind and made themselves at home. In spite of what happened that day, you were still ravenously hungry.

Even in flight, with the trees racing dangerously past you as you tried to outspeed that swallow, they cried for your attention. How was the human able to lift that pebble without touching it? A _fledgling_ human, nonetheless. It had mentioned something about magic, but you thought only Eldoh had control over that. Did it have some kind of divine power? And there were still the matter of the human's parents. Was it nestless? Abandoned?

It was at that point when you realized you were about to fly headfirst into a branch.

So here you were, weakly perched on a branch with an aching body, a ruined pride, a friend who was trying to be sympathetic but failing badly at it, and that damned swallow who was crowing all over the forest about "Beating that flight-obsessed spirit."

It just wasn't your day.

"Let's be honest here," your friend started.

Oh no, here it comes. You mentally braced yourself.

"Your bird form is a songbird. _A songbird._ Face it, your body isn't really meant for speed. It shouldn't be in the air all the time. It's just not made for it. And with you distracted with all that human business"

"I wasn't distracted." You just had to cut in, trying in vain to defend yourself.

"You ran into a tree."

"I know that."

"You lost a race for the first time in what? 20 years?"

"I. _Know_. That."

"Ergo, you were definitely distracted," the mockingbird concluded, looking triumphant. You could do nothing but sigh.

"Just look at the facts. You should really stop being so addicted to this. You can't keep pushing yourself like this forever. In fact, why don't you try actually singing sometime? It's fun, trust me!"

Your friend's annual lecture, right on schedule. You didn't really mind, as that was one of the reasons why you two became friends in the first place.

You sighed, again. "We've had this conversation too many times to count. You KNOW what I'm going to answer."

"Perseverance is a virtue," your friend responded matter-of-factly.

With nothing else to say, the two of you just perched in peaceful silence, staring out into the forest. It had virtually died several months before and it was now bursting back to life in a blaze of glory. You could hear the joyful cries of birdsong as the spirits of the forest perched on almost every branch, while others sped away in races of their own, whirling by in a flurry of feathers. The sun was shining that day, illuminating the forest with the light green of newgrown leaves.

The season of rebirth. Hope. Warmth. Flight.

You loved spring.

Your friend giggled, unable to hold it in anymore. "But still..._heh_...when you flew into that branch..._ah_..._haha_...that was..._hahahaha_...HILARIOUS! _Hahaha_! You should have seen yourself! It was-"

You couldn't take it anymore, and flew off, leaving the mockingbird to its mocking.

_With friends like these..._

So what then? You had the whole day ahead of you, and you couldn't risk racing again. You might as well entertain the questions that had started the entire mess.

* * *

You found the fledgling-human again in the same clearing.

It went stone-still when it saw you. "You... The bird from yesterday...!"

Slowly, keeping its movements stiff as if the slightest transgression would cause the ground to collapse beneath it, the human walked toward your branch. You weren't sure, but did the human look... guilty?

"I-I-I'm sorry for scaring you away yesterday. C-can you forgive me?"

It stopped, shaking, arms wrapped around itself. Not daring to go nearer, it pleaded. "It's okay if you don't want to be friends. Just please, don't fly away again..."

You found yourself feeling sorry for it. But what in the Hellish Yard could you do?

So you did nothing.

The human stepped back shakily, not before bending down and placing something on the forest floor. "I b-brought more bread for you. As a peace offering." It extended its arm in the direction of the pile of crumbs, and slowly, they rose up to the height of the branch you were perched on, surrounded with a faint green glow. "I-I-I hope you like it..."

You ruminated on the floating crumbs for a second and a half. Why not?

The fledgling didn't even have time to react as you flew full speed towards the crumbs, pulling up to perform a small loop-de-loop before zooming forward and catching a beak-full of crumbs. You landed on the human's shoulder, its mouth agape.

Take that, stupid swallow.

"Wow," it muttered, staring at you. "You're not an ordinary bird, are you?" You paid no attention, instead focusing on consuming those dry little morsels. The human smiled.

"So, does this mean we're friends?"

Friends? With a human? One you've only known for less than a day? Before you could think about it further, the fledgling giggled in ecstasy. "My first friend, I can't believe it!"

You guessed you had no say in the matter. But honestly, getting close to this human would help get rid of those bothersome questions that pinged endlessly around your mind. How bad could it possibly be?

* * *

"One day," the human proclaimed. "I'm going to be the best witch in the world! You'll see!"

It- No. Her (Eldoh, probably in exasperation, had finally corrected you on that count. The human was a female.) eyes shone bright with idealism and passion, just as you would expect a fledgling to have.

It was a chilly day of the ending summer and the not-quite-autumn. The browning leaves rustled in the wind that was getting fiercer and fiercer by the day. If you weren't careful, it would toss you about in its chilling claws. Soon, you would molt into your winter fare, your bright green feathers falling away and ones of a duller color growing in their place. It wouldn't be long before the leaves themselves followed.

The fledgling stood proudly. She had just levitated a rock the size of her tiny fist. Still trying to impress her audience of one, she chirped a hasty explanation.

"I just have to take it slowly, just lifting tiny things and getting bigger and bigger. Mother says that if I keep practicing, I can move them around in the air anywhere I want. Just like you!" She looked at you with an expression that you could only interpret as adoration. But you also saw the slightest hint of envy. The human sighed.

"It must be nice... being able to fly everywhere..." she pouted slightly.

Suddenly, her eyes lit up and she gasped in realization. "Maybe, if I get good enough, maybe I can lift _myself_ up and fly!" She turned toward you in excitement. "Do you really think that would work?" Of course, you gave no answer, just staring at her with curious eyes.

"Alright!" She straightened up, rubbing her hands eagerly. "Have to practice more!"

She proceeded to send a pebble rocketing towards a branch, splintering it in the process and causing it to fall three paces from her head.

* * *

The world, it seemed, had frozen over. No warmth was to be found anywhere; the wind had taken it all way, consumed it with its sharpened fangs.

Any regular bird with enough common sense would have migrated by now, taken flight to the southern regions of Evillious which you knew so little about. Your fellow spirits had mostly taken the forms of small mammals, curling up and hibernating in hidden dens on the forest floor, blanketed by a layer of white. And where were you?

Feathers puffed up like a dandelion, head tucked under wing, shivering in a hole in Eldoh's massive trunk.

It was very obvious what your opinion on winter was.

Eldoh sighed, the sound resonating throughout your tiny hideaway. "Child, why must you always be this stubborn?" You pretended not to notice and checked your food stores for the umpteenth time. Did you forage enough this year? You weren't exactly punctual when it came to stocking up, and there had been rumors flying around that the winter was going to be particularly long...

Another sigh. "It's always been the same, year after year. You never change."

You looked up. "Is that such a bad thing?"

"It's better to be a flowing stream than a lake, my child."

"That made no sense at all. And I _can_ be a lake!" The cold was getting to you, digging deep into your feathers and bringing out a foul mood.

A laugh. "A little thing like you? You would barely make a tiny puddle."

"Why I never-"

"Look outside. It appears your friend has arrived."

_What?_

Ignoring your freezing wings, you somehow managed to fly out into the frigid air and find a decent branch that wasn't completely iced over to perch on.

Startled by the noise, she turned around. "You! You're still here?"

_I could say the same for you, _you thought. Cold wasn't very good for fledglings, the last time you checked.

Looking around to see if anyone else was watching, she whispered excitedly, "Hey, you want to see something? I came here to test it out." Not waiting for an answer, she dropped the bundle of sticks she had been carrying and knelt as she arranged them into position. "I knew Mother wouldn't let me cast this in the house, and it would have been too dangerous anyway."

She stood up and walked two paces away. She brandished her arms in the sticks' direction, took a deep breath, and bellowed "Behold!"

The sticks glowed green, and suddenly burst into flame.

The fledgling laughed and clapped, jumping with joy. "It's a FIRE spell! I finally figured out how to cast it!

Had you been able to talk in the language of humans, you would have screamed at her, "_You fool! You could set the entire forest on fire!"_

Not noticing your anxiety, she squatted on her heels, staring at the flames. She seemed hypnotized by the flickering tongues of orange lapping up at the air and the crumbling sticks below.

You couldn't ignore the radiating heat, so eventually you flew down, perching on her shoulder as you gratefully warmed your chilled wings.

Snapping out of it by your sudden presence, the fledgling sat herself down properly on the snow-covered ground, still staring at the flames. "I never thought," she began, eyes still fixed on the fire. "I never thought that fire could be so beautiful. I almost want to reach out and..." As she said this, her hand actually started to reach out towards the flames. She seemed to realize what she was about to do, and let her hand drop back to her side.

Finally taking her eyes off the conflagration, she glanced all around her, at the winter-conquered forest. She smiled, softly. "The winter is actually quite beautiful too, when you think about it." She turned to look at you. "Don't you agree?"

How could that be possible? You looked around you, at the grey sunless sky, at the barren trees that were no more than overgrown sticks, at the white nothingness that spread all around you. And the silence, the utter silence besides the cackling of the fire. Normally, the forest would be noisy, restless, _alive_, but now...

Winter was _death_. How could it possibly be beautiful?

The fledgling stood up, the movement making you lose your stability and fly back to your branch. "I have to go, Mother's going to worry about me. She says it's going to be a cold winter this year." She went and snuffed out the fire with handfuls of snow.

She looked up to your perch. "Good luck, little bird. Stay warm." She then walked away, deeper and deeper into the forest until you could no longer see her.

It started snowing.

As you flew back into your wooden, freezing, shelter, it occurred to you that despite its all-consuming hunger, you actually missed the heat of the flames. But they were gone now, extinguished, only a pile of damp charred sticks and ashes.

Maybe the beauty of winter was only appreciated in warmth, but now you would never know.

* * *

**Author's Note: **This chapter was written assuming, of course, that Elphegort experiences winter. Do you think Creative License would cover this? *laughs nervously*

I FINALLY finished this chapter. Longest thing I have ever written, ugh. And now I have to deal with chapter four which could be even _longer_. (I should be studying for my exams now too, but my hobby is coming up with creative forms of procrastination)

To any of you who are following this fic (P.S. I LOVE YOU ALL), expect updates to come slowly. I've kinda given up on writing multiple chapters in advance, as school is a virtual nightmare. And unlike a certain someone, I lack the ability to update at the speed of light. *meaningful cough*

So any reviews? Comments? Corrections? Critiques? Violent reactions? Please send them my way, they're very delicious! (Except the violent reactions. Those hurt.) That, and it's nice to know who is following this fic. It's always fun to meet another Mothy fan!


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